Manama: Kuwaiti security authorities have arrested a Pakistani man disguised as a woman near a mosque in Jleeb Al Shuyukh, a town largely inhabited by expatriate workers from South Asian and Arab countries.
The police became suspicious about a black-clad, face-covered figure talking on the phone in the vicinity of Al Shuyukh Mosque. They asked to check the person’s identity and upon asking that the face veil be lifted found that it was a man, a statement from the interior ministry public relations and media department said.
The police searched the man but they found nothing of concern and later referred him to the relevant authorities.
Kuwait has been enforcing a zero-tolerance policy towards people acting in a suspicious manner ever since a suicide bomber blew himself up amid worshippers at the Al Imam Al Sadeq mosque, killing 26 worshippers and wounding 227.
Tight security has been put in place around mosques to ensure the safety of worshippers.
Public Prosecutor Dharar Al Asoosi said that investigations into the deadly blast in the mosque were being conducted on a 24-hour basis.
According to Kuwaiti daily Al Rai, 23 suspects have been remanded for another two weeks pending the investigations.
Sources quoted by the daily said that six women were among the suspects.
“The questioning of the six women,” sources told the daily, “has revealed that their role was to offer support and to help hide the suspects.” Four of the women were from Kuwait, one from Pakistan and one didn’t have documents to prove her identity.
“The women said they had destroyed the equipment used to record the operation, as requested directly by the defendants,” the sources said.
The investigation also revealed that some of the suspects had links to other suspects charged with funding the Daesh terror group using donations collected from the public on the premise of helping child refugees in Syria.
